I admit it, I have some unconventional ways to study the craft of writing.
There are certain pet peeves I have, pet peeves I am constantly harping on people who look to me for guidance. One of my most common complaints is the lack of specificity in writing.
Today I decided I was going to read through some poetry of Mary Oliver to see if she ever actually says the word “nature” because I get so tired (and bored) when people say or write things like, “I love nature.”
Blecch.
Does master poet, Pulitzer Prize winner, best selling poet and icon Mary Oliver ever make statements such as “I love nature” or even use the word "nature" even though she is represented as a poet whose subject is frequently nature?
I started reading “A Thousand Mornings” last night with my cat, Alice. She sits close when I read aloud, purring her pleasure and rubbing her forehead into my bicep. Twenty pages worth and not a single
“nature” yet countless references to aliveness in the outdoors.
I was most surprised she used the word “tree” repeatedly. Not elm or linden or maple, but “tree”. The first bird she mentioned by name was “wren”, which is the same bird mentioned in one of the new collections I bought this week, Testify by Joseph Lease.
Her poem “Mockingbird” slayed me. I had to take a break from reading for a moment, so I went online to find a wren’s call so that when I hear it next I can recognize it. As soon as the sound is finished on my computer, I heard the call outside my window.
Still, Mary Oliver hasn’t mentioned anything remotely sounding like “I love nature.”
She did make me laugh and smile in recognition when she wrote, “If I were a Sufi for sure I would be one of the spinning kind.”
Later when she ends a poem with “Are you following me?” I nod my head as if we are sitting at Dagny’s over my zambien zing and her - whatever she might drink - and I suddenly wish I knew what that might be.
And then I read her poem “The Man Who Has Many Answers,” and my silent cry gets lost in a moan that barely pushes through my esophagus.
I still haven’t found a trace of the three words “I love nature” in Mary Oliver’s words.
What I have found is so much… insert an adjective that doesn’t begin to describe the wonder I’m feeling here.
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Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
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